Among the various crops grown for human consumption, an important group is the class of root crops. Root crops are grown for their edible roots or tubers. Some common root crops include aroids, beets, carrots, cassava, celery root, ginger, horseradish, jicana, parsnip, potato and sweet potato, radishes, rutabaga, salsify, turnips and yams. Some of these crops are traditionally eaten raw, and some are eaten after having been cooked. Some of these crops require cutting or trimming prior to packaging for shipment to food processors and distributors. Automated machines for slicing, cutting and trimming vegetables are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,004 to Losito discloses a mushroom trimming machine that transports mushrooms on a series of conveyors or belts. The mushrooms are carried past trimming knives to first trim the bottom or root end, and then slice off the mushroom top or button. Also known in the crop processing industry are machines capable of automatically feeding the crops into engagement with the crop trimming machines. U.S. Pat. No. 2,096,588 to King discloses a screw conveyor device capable of orienting root crops and delivering them to a crop processing station. A root processing machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,477 to Huddle. This machine uses a pair of opposed belts to carry root crops, such as radishes, past a first knife to trim the root from the radish, and then past a second knife to trim off the stem.
It would be advantageous if there could be developed an improved crop processing machine that was reliable for use over long operating periods, that was easy to maintain in a clean state, and was capable of high throughput.